1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic entertainment systems and methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for delivering radio programs and related schedule information.
2. Description of Related Background Art
For many years, radio broadcasting has been an important medium for information delivery and entertainment. Each day, millions of people listen to a wide variety of radio programs, including music, news, sporting events, talk shows, and the like. In general, each locality has between 20 and 40 radio stations in the AM (amplitude modulated) and FM (frequency modulated) bands, providing a diversity of listening options.
Today, radio programs are being broadcast via the Internet. Radio signals are digitized, packetized, and transmitted to a receiver's computer or Internet-enabled television using standard protocols such as TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol). Various software programs are available for receiving and playing radio signals transmitted via the Internet, such as RealPlayer Plus®, available from RealNetworks, Inc. of Seattle, Wash.
Advantageously, Internet-based radio transmissions are not geographically limited. Thus, a local radio station in New York City may be received via the Internet at a user's home in Seattle or anywhere else in the world. It is now possible to choose from radio broadcasts from thousands of radio stations around the world via the Internet medium.
Recently, Internet and television technologies have begun to converge. Internet-enabled television systems, which allow a user to access the Internet via a television equipped with a special set top box (STB), are increasing in popularity. Thus, using an Internet-enabled television system, a user now has access to a large variety of radio stations in addition to conventional television programming.
Unfortunately, the great proliferation of available Internet-based radio stations can be more than a little confusing, and possibly somewhat daunting, for many listeners. Many people do not listen to interesting programming simply because they are not aware of it. Currently, radio program listings for multiple stations are not being stored in any centralized and easily-accessible medium.
Moreover, once a listener has missed a desired program, there is typically no way for the listener to hear it, aside from making a special request to a radio station. In order to record a program, a user must typically set up and use special equipment or software, the operation of which is often too complex for the average user.
Known methods of informing users of available radio programming schedules have proven to be deficient in a number of areas. Written programming guides, for example, require significant lead time to print and distribute. Consequently, programming changes that occur after printing are not reflected in the written programming guides. Additionally, a viewer must obtain a new programming guide periodically (e.g., weekly) in order to keep the written information current.
Many radio stations periodically announce what radio programs will be airing in the near future. However, if a person does not happen to be listening at the time of the announcement, he or she will not receive the schedule information. Additionally, the schedule information provided by such an announcement is typically applicable to only a small set of programs airing on the particular radio station.
In the case of packetized transmissions, i.e., those transmitted over a network such as the Internet, programming information available to listeners is similarly deficient. A few Internet-accessible radio stations provide information concerning the general content of radio broadcasts, e.g., “Classical Music,” “Family Values Talk Radio,” etc. Occasionally, a radio station may provide an indication of a specific artist, title, etc., for a single song being currently broadcast by the station. However, information concerning future broadcasts is generally not available. Additionally, there is no single resource for radio program schedule information pertaining to multiple Internet-accessible radio stations for past, present, and future radio programs.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for providing radio programs and related schedule information to a listener that overcome the limitations of the prior art. Such a system and method should preferably provide information related to multiple stations for multiple time slots. Additionally, the system and method should preferably enable a user to easily select past, present, and future radio programs for recording and/or playback.